They say it’s hard to enjoy Valentine’s Day because of the financial difficulties.

South Africa has been under various levels of lockdown for almost a year due to the coronavirus pandemic, bringing the economy to its knees and resulting in job losses.

Some South Africans say they won’t be celebrating Valentine’s Day under the lockdown, “So I won’t be celebrating Valentine’s Day this year - well, not on the day and that is because since COVID started, my partner has been working really odd shifts and days.”

“So, personally because of the lockdown and because of how things have been going via employment, I don’t see myself being able to afford a gift for my partner because I haven’t been employed for about a month.”

“So this year, my boyfriend and I can’t celebrate Valentine’s Day together because borders are closed and he’s in a different country. COVID has obviously presented a lot of challenges, mostly being finance so that limits the ability to actually execute plans.”

As couples celebrate Valentine’s Day, a cybersecurity expert has urged South Africans to practice safety when using online dating sites.

Shawn Phakade says online dating application users should be cautious when disclosing their personal information and be weary of their privacy settings.

“I think you need to be able to look at the inconsistencies that you will get from whoever is communicating with you. People who are going to scam or trying to scam you will profess excessive romantic interest that they love you. They’ll do whatever to try and lure you in for you to give in your personal details or to give them money.

What these people will do is they’ll try to move you off these dating apps and move you off to another messaging app where they forward and the scamming cannot be detected,” Phakade says as he shares some safety guidelines for dating apps.

SABC